Search engine optimization isn’t just about choosing the right keywords or getting as many high-quality backlinks as you can. A big part of SEO is website optimization. This means your site should have a structure and features that support all your optimization efforts.
SEO doesn’t stop with boosting your search rankings and driving site traffic. When users visit your landing pages, they expect a seamless, pleasant browsing experience. Otherwise, they’ll just click out of your website. If this happens, it could be difficult to convert your traffic to leads, which could lead to fewer conversions.
Whether you’re relying on SEO outsourcing services or doing your optimization work in-house, your website must be designed well to squeeze as much value from your SEO strategies.
Below are four web design features that can improve your SEO performance.
- Mobile-Friendliness
Consumers have grown increasingly dependent on their smartphones for their shopping activities. As such, Google implemented the mobile-first index. Your website should perform well on both desktop and mobile if you want to rank high on search engine results pages (SERPs).
A mobile-friendly website not only helps you please search engine algorithms, but it also helps you meet the expectations of smartphone-dependent consumers. They’re able to visit your website on any device, including tablets and smartphones, which adds to their browsing experience.
Google recommends using a responsive web design for mobile optimization. With this kind of design, your website automatically adapts to the screen size of whatever device the user has.
- Fast Loading Speed
Website speed is among the most important aspects of on-page and technical SEO. It’s also a factor in Google’s mobile-first index. If your web pages load slowly, Google won’t see your website as rank-worthy.
Aside from search engines, users also find slow-loading sites disappointing. Over 80 percent of consumers get frustrated with slow websites. Most would click out of the page and go to a competitor with a better website design and performance.
- Easy-to-Use Site Navigation
Clear navigation is one of the hallmarks of a great user experience. A navigable website makes it easier for visitors to find what they need, whether it’s a content piece or a product page. As users gather more information about your brand and offerings, your website helps push them down further down the sales funnel, which can increase your conversions.
On the other hand, confusing website navigation can frustrate consumers. If they need to click on multiple pages before finding the one they need, they might find the process taxing and time-consuming. This can force them to leave your website, increasing your bounce rate.
- Content Readability
Finally, your content should be readable by users and search engines. For user readability, your content should have a strategic layout. This means following best practices for kerning, line spacing, and white space usage to make sure your layout has enough space for the text to breathe.
Also, make sure to choose fonts and sizes that are easy to read even on devices with small screens.
For search engine readability, follow content best practices when designing your website. These include using heading tags properly, optimizing alt tags, and writing effective metadata, among others.
Ultimately, the goal of your website design and SEO strategy is to create an excellent user experience. Although your designers take care of the visual aspects of your site and your SEO specialists focus on your ranking factors, their objective should be the same: a reader- and search-friendly website.
Keep your target audience in mind and observe best SEO practices to achieve a website that delights users and search engines, boosting your rankings and conversions.
